Steelers mock draft: Pittsburgh takes an interesting route on day two

Steelers second-round pick: LB Brandon Smith

Seems a little early to take an off-ball linebacker? I would tend to agree. However, as surprising as this pick might seem right now, There’s no chance the Steelers are satisfied with the play they have been getting from either Devin Bush or Joe Schobert this year.

In 2019, Kevin Colbert gave up everything but the deed to his house to make sure the Steelers secured Bush with a top-ten pick — which shows you just how much Pittsburgh still values the linebacker position. Sadly, his efforts to replace the phenomenal Ryan Shazier have not panned out, and they could try again this coming April.

Brandon Smith checks nearly all of the boxes the Steelers look for at the linebacker position. At 6’3” and 241 points, the Penn State product has excellent size for the position and the former five-star recruit is a remarkable athlete who can reportedly run a 4.38 40-yard dash.

Seeing how well the last athletic Penn State linebacker turned out in Micah Parsons could cause Brandon Smith to go even higher, but as a Power 5 player with great upside, the Steelers could fall in love with a player like this who could help give the defense a boost right away.